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Indonesia gov't renews promise to crack down on porn

On the eve of the beginning of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting and purification in which faithful Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual activities from dawn until dusk, Indonesian Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring renewed a promise to have all porn websites blocked in the country. The measure is part of the government’s overall effort to implement the country’s strict anti-pornography laws, reports Thaddeus M. Baklinski, LifeSiteNews.com.

The Indonesian 2008 Anti-Pornography Law, which was upheld recently by the country’s Constitutional Court, declares, in part, “that the state should protect its citizens from the dangers of pornography.”

In mid-July the Indonesian government pledged to shut down objectionable domestic sites and asked the country’s 180 internet service providers to block international porn sites.

“We should not wait for too long to close down these sites because otherwise more will people copy and disseminate this material,” Sembiring said in a press release on July 14th.

At a news conference today, Sembiring called on Muslims to "keep hearts clean in the holy month," and said that he would continue to target websites and media that carried explicit sexual content.

"I've promised before there will be efforts to close porn sites ... This Ramadan hopefully traffic to porn sites can be reduced by more than 90 percent," he said.

Sembiring noted that most Indonesian internet service providers have agreed to block porn sites and that "their efforts are extraordinary."

Maaruf Amin chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (Muslin scholars who specialize in Islamic sacred law and theology) told AFP that he hoped that "pornography and immoral content" would be kept out of all TV programs during Ramadan.

"Hopefully, Ramadan will set a momentum for the media to clean up their programs and keep them free of pornography and filth. If we can't wipe them out totally, at least minimize them," he said.

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TAGS: Indonesia Ramadan porn websites anti-pornography laws dangers of pornography

[08/11/2010]

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